Applications prior U.S. Pat. No. 9,988,816, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a metal roofing system in which peg-like fasteners are used to interconnect overlapping rows of metal roofing sheets and fasten same to the underlying roof deck. FIG. 8 of the prior patent shows one such fastener, one end of which features a pair of fastener apertures that are aligned with matching holes near the upstream edge of an underlying lower roofing sheet to enable attachment of the fastener and underlying lower sheet to the roof deck by driving nails through the aligned apertures and openings. An upper roofing sheet is then laid in overlapping relation atop the lower roofing sheet, and features another hole therein near the downstream edge thereof that overlies the lower roofing sheet. An upright threaded post at the second end of the fastener is receivable through this hole of the upper roofing sheet. A nut is then threaded onto the post, thereby fastening the overlapping upper and lower roofing sheets together via the peg-like fastener. Another embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 of the prior patent instead incorporates the threaded post directly into the roofing sheet itself.
However, the forgoing designs with upright threaded posts are potentially expensive to produce, and result in an array of exposed fastening posts standing upright from the finished roof, creating an unsightly appearance and a potential trip hazard for roof workers.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement over Applicant's prior design.